Dear Mr. Arlt,

Thanks a lot for the quick answer.

> Would you consider writing a summarizing report on the fireball
> for WGN, once you have finished the source survey?

Of course.

> As far as I understand, the woman saw first a fireball ('something'),
> then heared the sound and then saw a much brighter fireball. If so,
> this is a peculiar event, and will be worth reporting on for a wider
> community.

Not correct. She first heard the sound, then looked up and saw the fireball. She saw it for an estimated 2 or 3 seconds, and simultaneously (still) heard the sound.

> Fireballs projected on some background is a typical feature
> of casual eye-witness reports. Because the event is so bright,
> people think it must have been close. They do not see the
> fireball projected on the background, but judge it was closer
> than the background because of the brightness. Fireballs never
> burn as deep as one or two kilometers above ground.

That was what I suspected. Thanks a lot for confirming.

> 'Flames' behind the head of the fireball are typical. During
> big events, the ablation of the meteoroid becomes visible
> with larger pieces of it lagging behind forming 'flame drops'
> or a kind of tail.

I have seen this on film.

> The end height of the fireball(s) should have been below 40km,
> otherwise no sound is audible. Maybe it penetrated as low as
> 30km above ground. The elevation of the end point of the fireball
> may have been 5-10 degrees as it seemed to vanish behind other
> mountains. The distance of the end point is then 200-300 km from
> the observer.

That is consistent with what I read in the handbook.

> Pinpointing the impact site is quite difficult.
> [...]
> But this should not discourage you;
> I would be most grateful if you can find out about as many
> eye-witnesses as possible, in particular a good description
> of the path as seen by Mrs Grongstad. I am looking forward
> to news about the event.

I will get anything I can, and I will report back to you. And maybe it is time for some luck.... Not much people up there, though.